Warsaw is often labeled Poland’s most international city or the Paris of the East. It is neither. Warsaw is clean and Polish. It’s not an international city, although it has international elements and subpopulations. This does not change the fact that this city, like all other Polish cities, is fundamentally and uniquely Polish.
It is difficult to tell whether Warsaw is trying to be a modern city or trying to rediscover its rich heritage. Its old town is itself a reminder of Warsaw’s tormented memories, with a meticulously reconstructed and entirely crowdfunded Royal Castle—the seat of Polish kings for almost 200 years—standing prominently and unyieldingly proud. In a way, it is a monument to the tenacity of the Polish people and their unenviable history of fighting to the death to preserve their identity and freedom.
Warsaw’s Royal Castle and old town were rebuilt during Poland’s era of communist rule—an admirable achievement during a time of ideologically-possessed government planners and social engineers constructing the gray, soulless residential blocks that symbolize the brutalist era of communism, which remains a lingering scourge on Poland’s cityscapes.
On a recent visit to Warsaw, I met with Tania, a Ukrainian woman from the devastated city of Mariupol who lives in Warsaw with her mother and grandfather. On an overcast but mild day, we journeyed through history and beauty. Our first stop was Łazienki Park, a lush 76-hectare oasis within the bustling city. Strolling beneath the autumn colors, the serene lake mirrored the romantic allure of the surroundings. In the center of the park sits the Palace on the Isle, a neoclassical palace built in the late 17th century as a bath pavilion on a man-made island in the center of the lake. It was transformed into a royal residence in the 18th century by King Stanisław August Poniatowski, and today it stands as a symbol of Poland’s cultural heritage, open to the public.
Next, we took a short taxi ride to the magnificent Wilanów Palace, a marvel of Baroque architecture. The palace stands regal and adorned with intricate details, transporting visitors back to the grandeur of a time gone by. Its splendid gardens unfold like a vibrant tapestry, inviting you to wander in their green embrace. Commissioned by King Jan III Sobieski in the late 17th century, the palace reflects the larger-than-life figure of one of Poland’s most famous kings. Sobieski was credited by Pope Innocent XI as the “Savior of Christendom” for his crucial role in leading the Polish and allied forces to victory at the Battle of Vienna in 1683. The battle was a pivotal moment in history, as it halted the Ottoman Empire’s advance into Europe and helped protect Christian Europe from further Ottoman expansion.
From the tranquility of Łazienki Park to the opulence of Wilanów Palace, I marveled at the city’s ability to blend history and natural beauty, making each step a journey through time and splendor.
The city is as tragic as it is delightful, with the traumatic scars of its past prominent throughout and still worn by its native residents. Many of its foreign residents share this sense of peaceful reconciliation with a tragic past. Tania told me the harrowing story of her escape from Ukraine after the breakout of the war and of the months-long struggle to evacuate her mother and grandfather while facing impossible odds. She told me Warsaw is a place where she finds peace—a home away from home. It welcomes her and thousands of other Ukrainians with open arms, each with a story as tragic as the city itself.
And that’s where the penny dropped: Warsaw is peace. Its tragic past defines it and lends it its unique character, which has been molded by a stubborn unwillingness to abandon the ideal of peace.
But this storied past, from royal capital to a city of rubble post-World War II, is what makes Warsaw proof that the impossible is possible, and this is embodied by Varsovians today. Locals, both young and old, almost universally love their city, and it’s easy to see why.
Warsaw is an eclectic mix of architectural styles—from brutalist to baroque and everything in between. Walking around Warsaw will leave you confused about whether the city is a modern metropolis or a centuries-old royal capital. Nestled amid the communist-era residential blocks in the city’s Wola district are modern skyscrapers containing top-of-the-line offices, apartments, and a selection of fine dining restaurants and bars. Neon lights grace some of the facades of welcoming cafes and eateries throughout the city’s many bustling districts, a throwback to the 1950s. Brutalist buildings are common, yet they offer their own charm, which I’ve come to appreciate. The old town is, of course, the city’s tourist center and its finest gem. Dotted around the old town and along the busy Krakowskie Przedmieście street are former palaces of the Polish nobility, now turned hotels.
Warsaw offers you an unapologetic experience—proudly Polish but welcoming to all, as the city’s many Ukrainian residents will testify. Warsaw stands as Poland’s capital, a country given the moniker ‘God’s playground’ by author Norman Davies. And it still rings true today, as the country is once again at the crossroads of civilizational conflict between West and East. I attended a networking event when I arrived in Warsaw and met many people who claimed to be fleeing the West with similar messages of desperation. “I moved here from Italy with my wife and kids three years ago,” said one of the attendees, immediately steering the conversation to his worry that Poland will, too, follow the suicidal path of Western countries. “We love it here; it’s safe and clean, and we have a good standard of living,” he said, adding that he doesn’t want Poland to “fall.” His sentiments were echoed by several other Western expats seeking refuge in Poland.
It’s becoming clearer that Poland—and its principal city—is destined to be God’s playground once more. The ‘culture war’ is certainly active here, yet invisible to the naked eye. Many Poles still embody traditional values and common sense, which have all but disappeared in the wider Western world. Yet many are aware of the culture war, with more than a few siding with the progressive cultural axioms now dominating the West and political divisions becoming increasingly pronounced.
It is here that the fate of other Eastern European countries will be decided, as Poland sits at the vanguard of an increasingly separate European bloc of countries rejecting Western cultural currents and the creeping authoritarianism of the European Union.
Today, in the West and in Warsaw, the masks are off, and the separation is happening. Poles will find allies in Western expats making their home in Poland, bringing tales of civilizational collapse and cultural and aesthetic decay from their ‘progressive’ home nations. Unlikely friendships and bonds are forming everywhere, and this is particularly evident in Warsaw, where residents from diverse backgrounds are united in their adherence to shared values and their acute awareness of the coming storm.
In God’s playground, the defining struggle is between the people who aim to serve God and the people who struggle against God. It’s the people of the lie versus people who seek truth. It is people who feel gratitude versus people who feel spite. People who take responsibility versus people who seek victim status. People who love children as the wealth of a nation, versus people who see them as a burden and a nuisance. People who yearn for peace versus the arbiters of chaos and deconstruction. People who multiply their community’s wealth versus those who exploit and leverage it. Everything hidden is being revealed, and people’s internal intentions are increasingly undeniable. The deceptions of the West are cracking and will eventually lose all their cultural power.
As the culture war plays out, Poland’s fate has yet to be determined. Warsaw has become a destination both for those fleeing the West and for those who would urge Poland to embrace Western progressivism. So far, Poland has held firm, buttressed by eight years of staunchly national conservative rule under Law and Justice (PiS), which lost its parliamentary majority in the national elections of October 15, 2023. Their replacement? Donald Tusk’s Civic Platform, which cobbled together a rainbow coalition of leftists, centrists and center-right parties to oust Law and Justice. Although the battle lines have been drawn, I get the sense that Poles will do what they’ve always done—persevere, survive, and, in due course, prevail, with their traditions and identity intact.
